


For You

by TheJKWolf



Series: Mario Universe [3]
Category: Super Mario & Related Fandoms
Genre: Angst, Just angst, Mario is only there at the begining, No Romance, Olly centric, Sibling Relationship, im sorry
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-31
Updated: 2020-10-31
Packaged: 2021-03-09 01:40:31
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,368
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27306451
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheJKWolf/pseuds/TheJKWolf
Summary: Olivia uses the wish of the thousand cranes to bring Olly back to live, giving him a chance to redeem himself and start a new life. On their Journey through the kingdom to unfold what is still origami, Olly reflects on his past choices, realising how much he actually messed up.
Relationships: Olly & Olivia
Series: Mario Universe [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1902637
Comments: 2
Kudos: 10





	For You

**Author's Note:**

> Chatting with friends gives me ideas to hurt myself. This angsty piece was inspired by a talk I had with a friend about the ending of Paper Mario: The Origami King. Look at it as some kind of AU.  
> Also, heavy spoilers for the endgame! You have been warned.

„I am sorry.“

Olly was laying on the ground, his body crumpled in painful ways, as he reached to wipe away the tears on Olivia's face. He didn’t deserve them anyways. His arm trembled so much, he couldn’t keep it up long before it fell down again.

“Please, fold the last crane and use the wish to undo what I did. I- It won't be much, but let me make amends for my mistakes.”

His vision got blurry again. He couldn’t focus on his sister anymore but he felt how she drew him closer, hugging him tightly. Feeling the tremors of her body as she sobbed he felt guilt creep up in him. He never wanted to make Olivia cry. She should have been beside him, ruling over their kingdom and being happy. But the only thing he could give her was pain.

“Brother! Please, brother, I-“

Olly’s vision started to turn black. Olivia said something, but he couldn’t comprehend the words anymore. It was nice that the last thing he heard was his sister’s voice.

\-------------------------------------------------------------

Olivia could only stare at her brother as the light left his eyes. He went motionless in her arms and all she could do was watch. She didn’t let go of him, not accepting what happened and waited for Olly to say something, to breath, to move. This wasn’t supposed to happen. She used the new technique the Origami Craftsman gave her because it seemed the only way to stop him. She didn’t like to do it, but if she managed to change her brother's way…

It worked and then did so much more. She killed someone. She killed her own- Her mind went blank from the effort to **not** reach this conclusion.

A hand on her shoulder snapped her out of her trance. Olivia looked up, still holding onto her brother, to see Mario looking at her with pity in his eyes. Her vision was blurry and she only now realised the tears streaming down her face.

“Mario…” Olivia looked down again. “I’m sorry, I shoul- shouldn’t be crying like this, I know…”

Mario shook his head and hugged her. Olivia clung at him as more tears started to form in her eyes. Sobbing uncontrollably she gazed over the hundreds of cranes scattered over the floor and hanging from the walls. She tried to calm herself, remembering her brother’s last words. Wriggling free from Mario’s hug and avoiding to look at her brother she wiped away the tears. Then she looked around on the search for some spare paper.

“Ok, ok. We’ve got to do this. Only one last crane and we can change everything back to normal.”

Olivia scanned the room again. Admiration welled up in her as she saw all the perfectly folded cranes. She knew she would never have the patience to do this. Her brother must have spent a lot of time to fold all these. The two thrones caught her attention. A lot of time to be alone with nobody to speak to.  
Olivia felt sick. And then realization dawned on her.

“I… I don’t know how to fold a crane.”

She looked back at Mario, feeling more helpless than ever. There was nothing she could do. She couldn’t even fulfil her brother's last wish. Her body lowered itself a bit as she felt so weak.

A moment later a loud sound pierced the silence that had formed. A green car crashed through the wall carrying Luigi and the Origami Craftsman. The car landed on the ground and then turned sharply to the right, avoiding Mario who jumped out of the way.

“Hey, Bro!”, Luigi called, pointing to the Toad behind him, “He wanted to come up here to meet you.”

Mario gestured with his hands towards Luigi who in turn chuckled nervously.

“Come on, Bro. You know I would never run you over.”

Before Mario could reply the Craftsman interrupted them, running towards Olly to examine him.

“Oh no! What happened?” He looked up to Olivia searching her for any injuries. “Are you alright, Olivia?”

“…I’m alright.”

She floated nearer to the Craftsman.

“Can you fix him?”

Her voice was quivering as she said it. Luigi looked at Mario inquiring while the Craftsman studied Olly.

“I’m afraid not. He is already gone. Only a much stronger power could help him now.”

Olivia trembled at first but the last words made her hover higher than before. What power was higher than a wish granted by the thousand folded cranes? She drew closer with hope shimmering in her eyes.

“Quick! You have to teach me how to fold an origami-crane!”

Olivia had already grabbed the papers the Craftsman had tucked in his pockets, laying them on the ground. A bit confused the Toad looked around only now taking in the room with the 999 folded cranes. His eyes widened a bit as he realised what this meant. He hurried over to Olivia, instructing her on where to fold. Before she could finish, however, Mario spoke up.

“Olivia.”

She looked up, surprised. Mario rarely talked and she could count on one hand how many times he had so during their whole journey. Now he was staring at her. When he was sure he got her attention he motioned to the whole room and then to Princes Peach, trapped on the wall. Olivia faltered a bit. Of course. She needed to use the wish to get everyone back to normal. That was the reason they made their journey here. If she used the wish on getting her brother back then what would happen to all the unfortunate people stuck in origami?

She looked down on her hands. Only a few folds were needed to finish this crane.

“You are right. I have to use this to rescue all the people.” She hesitated a moment, making another fold with the paper. “It's just that I… I never thought that this is how it ended and… I know what he did but he is my brother and I…”

She trailed off, unsure of what to say exactly.

Another fold on the paper. And then an idea sprung to her mind.

\-------------------------------------------------------------

The sun was shining through the trees in Autumn Mountain, creating beautiful light patterns on the ground. There were leaves falling on the ground and Olly was sure they would crunch under his feet if he didn’t float.

Now they only crunched under Olivia as she jumped up and down on them. He couldn’t understand why she would take the hassle to walk on the ground. They had the natural ability to float, after all, unlike so many of these flat paper-creatures. Olivia was fascinated by them, which is something he didn’t get either. One of the many unanswerable questions on his mind.

The biggest one being why she had used the wish of the 1000 Cranes to bring **him** back to life.

Waking up in a bed to realise he was alive was not what he expected after he died. And he did die, he knew that for a fact. He woke up to Olivia standing over him, a look of pure joy in her eyes. It made him instinctively happy to see her like this but at the same time there was a voice creeping in his head sounding just like him.

**I don’t deserve this**

He didn’t. How many people were suffering because of him, he does not know. So wrapped up in this anger he had made so many mistakes. It made its home in his head and wouldn’t let go anymore. It was only at the end that he realised what has become of him.

Laughter snapped him out of his mind again. Olivia was having the time of her life it seemed and it filled him with pure happiness to see her like this.

“You really have to try this out, Brother! It’s so fun!” She jumped on another pile of leaves while saying it.

A second later she stumbled and nearly toppled over into the river if Olly hadn’t rushed forward to catch her. He pulled her back a bit before he let go again and looked her over to see if she got hurt in any way.

“Uff, that was close!” Olivia heaved, closing her eyes for a second. “That wouldn't have been a nice experience at all! I would be all wet and- ah.”

She interrupted herself looking at the ground.

“Sorry, I know you don’t want to hear this.”

Olly did very much want to hear this. He loved when she got excited over little things. Or when she started speaking nonsense, rambling on about anything that made her happy. She was a ray of sunshine and Olly couldn’t help but to bask in her light. She was his beloved sister and so perfect in any way. But for some reason she didn’t think he likes listening to her. It wasn’t the first time she cut herself off around him but the pain in his chest was the same. He deserved it, though. He brought her so much pain. He wanted to protect her and give her everything but he ended up hurting her instead.

“It’s alright”, he muttered and then flinched internally as he saw her face. He turned around, not being able to bear the pain he caused her.

“Let’s keep going. I have a lot of origami to unfold, still”, he said, escaping the situation.

Quick to forget what happened, Olivia floated forward enthusiastically, already giggling again.

“You mean “We have origami to unfold!”” Olivia exclaimed and sprinted forward.

Olly looked after her and the voice in his head announced itself again, like so many times before.

**I really don’t deserve her.**

\-------------------------------------------------------------

When Olly had woken up, much of the world was still wrapped in origami. They were asking him if he was able to unfold it again – and of course he could – but I would take some time. He had prepared a lot for his invasion. To undo it all he would have to travel across the land to remove the power points holding it all together.

He had asked Olivia why she would waste her wish on him if she could have used it to instantly remove all origami instead.

“You are my brother!”, she declared, “And you won’t come around to atone for what you did otherwise! I will help you of course, and we will go around fixing everything! It will be super fun!”

It was not, in fact, “super fun”. Unfolding took a lot of energy so he felt drained most of the time. And most people didn’t like seeing him around either. There were many hateful glances towards him, some refusing to speak to him at all. It was only thanks to Olivia that they could stay in hotels. Olivia had to remind him many times that redemption has to be earned whenever he got frustrated at their behaviour. He knew he did something atrocious but he was here to fix it, wasn’t he? For all he cared they could stuck to be origami forever!

But Olivia cared about them. She _cares_ a lot about them. She is in love with this world and if it meant making her happy? He would do anything.

So he gritted his teeth and **didn’t** punch them. He may make an exception for the one Toad who looked at Olivia funnily, though.

\-------------------------------------------------------------

The boat took them down the river, away from Shogun Studios. Olly sighed in relief. It was way too crowded there and people kept thinking that he was an attraction of some sorts. Of course Olivia wanted to stay longer, too. It was exactly her kind of entertainment and he didn’t want to spoil her fun because he felt a bit uneasy.

He made her feel way worse before, it’s the least he could do.

Still, he was happy to be finished with that part. It was past noon, but he was already exhausted. Olivia suggested they would go a bit further and then stay at the hotel in Shroom City

There was an unusual silence on the boat. It wasn’t a bad one as Olly wasn’t a talker and Olivia exhausted herself at the dojo. She was at the front of the boat while Olly sat a bit behind her, keeping a cautious eye on her so she won’t fall down.

A few more minutes passed when the Toad steering the boat announced that they were there. He manoeuvred them so that Olly and Olivia got out easily. Olly went down first, turning around to see if his sister needed any help but she was already floating past him. He would have expected her to try and jump out of the boat but it seemed that she wanted to move on quickly. Maybe she was just excited to reach the town. She even neglected to say goodbye to the Toad who waved after them before casting one last glance at Olly.

Olly shrugged his shoulder and started to follow Olivia. She must be excited to get there. Normally, she would pull him with her but this time he had to hurry to not lose her.

The sun was beating down at them merciless, making it painful to look at the huge, yellow stones towering over them on both sides. An uneasy feeling started to fill him. It seemed familiar, somehow, but he couldn’t quite put a finger on it.

Olly rounded the last corner and went pale at the sight in front of him.

Yes, of course. He remembered now. He **had** seen this place before – only it had been from the other side. He was standing up there, on top of the entrance looking down to where Olivia now stood. She was standing eerily still, looking at the ground where he could still see the impact of the boulder he had thrown on them.

Olly wasn’t moving anymore. A dozen thoughts were racing through his head, each one unable to finish before the next demanded attention.

**He had thrown a boulder on his sister**

**A boulder?!**

**On his sister**

**why would he-**

**trapping her underneath**

**What was he thinking**

**she could’ve been** -

**Dead**

His mind came to a screeching halt as he stared at Olivia's back. He could make out her trembling body now and a suppressed sobbing sound made its way to him. He was hesitant for a second but then approached her.

“Olivia, I’m- I am sorry, I don’t know why I did this, I never wanted to hurt you…” He trailed off, unsure of what to say exactly. Olivia half turned to him with so much sadness in her eyes, he didn’t know why he mistook her silence as excitement.

Olly got right up next to her trying to hug her. But Olivia already turned around and moved on, ignoring his attempt for comfort.

“Let’s just keep moving”, Olivia mumbled, leaving him standing alone in front of the entrance.

Of course. What else did he think would happen? He brought her so much pain, how could he think that she wanted him to comfort her. Did he actually assume that she still liked him? She was probably here to make sure he did his part. Because he can’t be trusted to do it alone. Because she couldn’t trust him. Rightfully so, why should she? What did he do for her? Nearly killed her. He brought her to life only to hurt her afterwards.

He shouldn’t be here. He didn’t deserve this.

**I am a failure**

\-------------------------------------------------------------

The rising moon brought some of its cool over the desert, giving them a break from the never ending heat that would rise again. They had made their way through the desert and arrived in Shroom City. Olivia got back some of her cheerfulness along the way, but Olly still felt an underlying sadness whenever she talked.

He tried to give her space, not wanting to hurt her any more than he already did.

Despite it being late into the night there were many people wandering town, chatting with friends and enjoying the coolness. Olly couldn’t find the peace he wished for roaming through the market. He could feel every pair of eyes tracking his movements. Olvia was already asleep in her room, having been in there the moment they arrived.

He so badly wanted to follow her and give her the love she deserved but he didn’t, knowing he was the cause of her suffering.

Walking back into the hotel, he felt even more miserable than before. His mind wouldn’t shut up, plaguing him with questions over his past actions. Whenever he thought about what he had done, he lost his way of reasoning along the way, unsure of the “why”.

He was walking past her room, glad that nobody else was in the hallway, when he heard sobbing coming from Olivia's room. He immediately stopped and went to her door. The urge of opening it and blowing away all her sorrow was stronger than ever before. His hand was hovering over the doorknob when he stopped himself, remembering the reason she was most likely crying herself to sleep.

He silently sighed out, leaning his head against the door. Unable to do anything he listened to Olivia's suffering. When he heard her say something he strained his ears to catch it.

“…Bobby, why did you…”

“…You shouldn’t…. why did… sacrifice…”

It took Olly a moment to register what she said. But then he remembered that it wasn’t just Olivia and Mario there but also a third person. A bomb-omb if he remembered correctly. He didn’t see him anymore afterwards.

How _did_ they manage to get Olivia out of the rock? He had never thought about it, only happy that this wasn’t how she had met her end. But there had been a Bomb-omb and then there wasn’t and Olivia said sacrifice…

Olly felt sick. Sick and miserable. He had bombed her out from under the stone. He had sacrificed his life for his sister, who he hadn’t even known that well, from the boulder her Brother had trapped her under. That _he_ had thrown at her.

Olly couldn’t support himself anymore and slided down the door. The guilt was nearly eating him alive. He wished it did so he wouldn’t have to feel this anymore, but he knew he deserved this. Olivia lost a close friend because of him. And now she had to travel with him, who was still alive, past where she last saw Bobby.

She must hate him so much.

He had wanted to give her the world at her fingertips but she never wanted the world. Olivia wanted to be part of it, experiencing life like any other creature and spreading her love. But he only saw through his anger, saw the world as their enemy only fit to serve them. He had wanted to put Olivia on the throne she deserved and couldn’t understand why she would go against him. It had only fuelled his anger more, in the end. Because, for whatever reason, he had felt like he was doing the right thing for them.

Why had he thought building a Kingdom out of origami would make Olivia happy? She adored every living being and found so much joy in the world they live in. She would have suffered on a throne with people under her who went through so much pain because of her.

How could he have thought that she **wanted** all this?

Olly hanged his head. The sobbing had quieted down at last.

He didn’t deserve to be alive. Olivia shouldn’t be forced to stay at his side because she felt responsible for her brother. He was back to life and he still could only give her grief.

Olivia was the only person he cared about and he owned her so much. He didn’t mind if he would suffer if it meant making Olivia happy. The only thing left for him to do was to do anything he could to give her back even a tiny bit of kindness she had shown him.

Even if it meant she wanted him to leave her forever.

**Author's Note:**

> 3300 Words


End file.
